


Christmas Break #2

by rhaenyx



Series: James and Lily: Christmas Break [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Diagon Alley, F/M, Quidditch, St Mungo's Hospital
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-15 18:51:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13037271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhaenyx/pseuds/rhaenyx
Summary: James and Lily spend their first Christmas together... somehow.





	Christmas Break #2

**28th December 1977 ******

********

Lily removed her hood, her gloves, shook the snow off her and walked into ‘Quality Quidditch Supplies’. It was a snowy day in London, and she had walked along the magically coloured and lighted streets of Diagon Alley until she arrived in the North Side. The redhead woman looked around her: she felt like she was in a foreign place. She knew the basics of Quidditch, but she would have never guessed that so many complex things were needed for the game. 

She could distinguish Quaffles, Bludgers, Snitches and different types of brooms that seemed all the same to Lily Evans. What would James Potter want? She had decided that the best place to find the perfect Christmas present for Potter would be related to Quidditch, but now she was there, she didn’t know what he would want. Probably the entire shop, she thought, but she couldn’t afford that. Then again, what if she bought something and he already had it? That would be terribly embarrassing.

Lily began roaming around the shop: A new broom? He already had a brand new one; one of those balls? He already had them; robes? He was the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team for God’s sake, he had enough robes. 

“Excuse me, Miss, could I help you?”

Lily turned around and saw a middle aged man, who had a growing black graying beard, dark eyes with wrinkles around them, which told Lily he was smiling. He was wearing a blue sparkly cloak, but Evans could see that under it he was wearing a Tutshill Tornados t-shirt. She smiled.

“Yes! I was wondering… ” Lily thought how to pose the question properly “What could I give as a present to my… boyfriend?” She said the last word doubtfully, as James and she had still to go on that date they had talked about, and they haven’t made clear what they were, or would they be. 

“Oh, well, I suppose this boyfriend of yours likes quidditch?” Lily nodded, that was an understatement. “And I suppose he already has almost everything in this shop?” He said with a twinkle in his eyes, and she nodded sheepishly again. “Mmm… ” The shop assistant tapped his chin, seemingly in deep thought. “You could give him a Golden Snitch with the first letters of your names.”

“That sounds great!” Lily was positively beaming at the idea, as she was sure James didn’t have a Golden Snitch like that, and the one he used to show off was getting slow. “Our initials are ‘L’ and ‘J’. ‘Lily and James’”. She explained, making sure he didn’t get them wrong.

“Perfect. We can send it to you by owl post if you’d like? It would arrive in two days more or less. It’ll be fifteen galleons.” Lily nodded and gave him the money and her address, and was glad her mother had made sure she brought enough money for that ‘charming young man you talk about’. She waited until he wrote all the necessary information. Meanwhile, questions began flooding her head: Was it enough? Was it too much? Was it too corny? She shook her head and sighted, when a rush of cold air came into the shop, announcing the entrance of another customer.

“Could it be? Evans in Quality Quidditch Supplies!” No, it couldn’t be. Lily turned around, closing her eyes and wishing she was just hallucinating, but when she opened them he was still there, with his messy black hair, brown eyes and crooked glasses. 

“Hi James. What are you doing around here?” She tried to smile and sound naturally, but it came quite strained. He was wearing a scarlet cloak and just like hers, his shoulders were covered in snow. 

“Just giving a look. What about you? This is the last place where I’d expect to find you.” Lily looked around her, trying to find an answer in the walls or the ceiling, but she found none.

“Well… I had never been here before, so I thought I might give it a try.” She tried to sound convincing, but she wasn’t a particularly good liar.

Sure, thought James, Lily visits a quidditch shop almost as often as Snape showers, although he didn’t say this aloud, he didn’t want to anger her.

They just stared at each other, Lily Evans swaying on her feet and James kept smiling at her. They stayed in silence for a few seconds, James’ smile never faltering. 

“Well, are you going to leave, or…?” Lily tried not to sound rude, but by the startled look on his face, she supposed she hadn’t been lucky.

“We could leave together. Fancy a walk?” He offered her his left arm, though he seemed rather unsure after her sharp answer. She sighed before grabbing it. She turned around and looked at the shop assistant, who was giving her a thumbs up, having understood that it was him the person who was going to receive the present. She sighed relieved. 

They quietly walked along Diagon Alley enjoying each other’s company. They were kids running around followed by their parents, carrying different sized presents wrapped in colourful paper with them. 

“And what are you doing here, Potter?” She nudged him in the ribs and he laughed, but before he could answer, his laugh was cut by the horror screams of the people around them at the sight of dark hooded and masked figures appeared in the cobbled streets. Red and green rays were leaving the wands of the Death Eaters. They ruthlessly attacked the pedestrians who were trying to run away: most of them were disapparating out of Diagon Alley, many others were trying to find their relatives who had got lost in the crowd, some were trapped inside shops that were being destroyed by the Death Eaters. 

Lily and James had already drawn their wands, but in their attempt to fight the dark wizards and protect the passersby they had been separated from one another. Lily Evans, who had just stunned one masked man, turned around just in time to see James cast a shield over a group of people that had tripped and fell to the floor next to him, but that let another Death Eater free way to attack me. Lily saw horrified and shocked how an unconscious James hit the floor, how he stayed limp against the floor and how his glasses, which had slipped from his nose were now being trampled on by the Death Eater. Lily tried to scream, but the noise didn’t leave her throat. She went to help him but she was shoved aside by a man on a blue robe, with an Auror badge on his arm. 

“Leave this place, girl!” The auror tried to push her backwards, but Lily Evans wasn’t going to leave James aside. 

“I’m not going anywhere without him.” She sneaked from the auror’s grip and avoiding curses and hexes she kneed next to James’ body. He seemed to have hit his head against the stone floor, but a shaky warm breath was still leaving his slightly opened mouth.

She could hear the auror’s voice behind her. “If you can apparate take him and leave, you two are only going to make things worse here if you’re not fighting.” Lily didn’t need to be told twice, she hugged James’ body and apparated in St. Mungo’s. 

The reception was packed. It seemed like she wasn’t the first one to bring a loved one after the events in Diagon Alley. Immediately after the apparition, a mediwizard approached and crouched next to them. It was a man with short brown hair and small glasses that seemed to fall to the tip of his nose.

“I suppose you came from Diagon Alley?” Lily nodded, still unable to speak, but she didn’t need to, as the mediwizard whose name –Atticus– was written on his badge knew what to do, and that didn’t require Lily to do anything. 

From the impersonal hall of the hospital James Potter was taken to a separated room in the Fourth Floor: Spell Damage by the healers in short time that Lily Evans would remember in a blur. She was taken to some waiting room, with white walls and a linoleum floor, and was soon sat in a chair at the end of the room, tapping her foot against the floor and biting her nails. She had tried to send a message to the Potters, but a Mediwizard had told her that they had already been told and that the Potter family was on their way. Lily had just finished thinking about this when she heard some rumbling outside. Just then, a middle aged couple and a late teenager crossed the threshold. The woman had red head, grey eyes and wrinkles around them. The man’s hair was graying, and his eyes were a brown tone that Lily had come to know very well behind a pair of round glasses. Behind Mr. and Mrs. Potter was Sirius Black, with his handsome face full of worry, black hair and grey stormy eyes. The three of them were breathing heavily, like they had come upstairs running. 

Lily stood up from her seat but before she had time to speak she was engulfed in a tight warm hug by Mrs. Potter. Both were trying to hold their tears. The events from early that day were beginning to sink in. Mrs. Potter pulled back and began wiping the tears that had slipped away. The moment she pulled back Sirius Black wrapped his arm around Evans’ shoulders. 

“Hey, are you alright?” Lily doubted that she had ever heard Sirius sound so gentle. He was always the joker, but in the last year with the war firing up he had been forced to be an adult sooner than any of them should have.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me.”

Fleamont Potter snorted. “But of course we worry! James talks about you so much it feels like we’ve known you forever.” Mr. Potter winked making Lily blush and Mrs. Potter roll her eyes.

“We are glad you are alright. James will be too, thanks to you.” Euphemia Potter smiled down at Lily, whose cheeks could only keep turning as red as her hair; thankfully, she didn’t need to answer because the healer in charge of James appeared in the waiting room. He asked for the Potters, making the four of them gasp.

“It must be you.” At their nods, the healer –Atticus– continued speaking. “The boy will be fine. He’s got a concussion, nothing magic can’t fix. He’s lucky the charm was a mild Stunner. You’ll have him back home in a couple of days. He’s till unconscious, but you can visit him if you’d like.” He smiled cheerfully at them and signaled to the room to his left. They went in, but Lily hesitated at the door, not sure if she should interrupt the family moment. She was about to say it aloud when Sirius grabbed her and pushed her inside, closing the door behind him. Lily looked at him angrily, but Sirius only smirked. Her scowl and his smirk slowly disappeared from their faces when they saw James in the hospital bed. He was quite pale, and there was a bandage around his head. His glasses were in the nightstand next to his bed. Mrs. Potter had sat next to him and grabbed his left hand while she blew her nose with a handkerchief. They stayed in silence for a few minutes, until Fleamont Potter turned to the youngest woman in the room.

“Well, I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Fleamont Potter, James’ father.” He smiled broadly at her and she could feel her cheeks warm while they shook hands.

“Lily Evans.” She muttered, which was quickly followed by Sirius commenting mockingly “Your daughter-in-law, Fleamont.”

“Shut up, Black.” said Lily, but this only caused his laugh to be louder. She ignored him and went to James’ other side and sat across from Mrs. Potter, who raised her sight from her son and looked fondly at her. The last place both of them would have expected nor wanted to meet each other would have been in a hospital room.

“You see Lily, Fleamont and I have to go to the Ministry for work… After the attack, they need us more than ever and–”

“I’ll stay with him.” Lily didn’t need to be told twice, and Euphemia Potter smiled gratefully and relieved before they both turned their gazes back to James, but not before she added cheekily:

“That’s good. From now on I’d say you’ll spend a great deal of time with him.” Sirius’ laugh was louder than ever. 

* * *

Two nights later Lily Evans was still sitting next to James’ bed, watching him carefully. Sirius Black had tried to convince her to go back home, but she had wanted to be there  
when he woke up. 

Sometime in the morning, with the early lights she heard chirping from somewhere next to her. She raised her head, confused by the sound, and tried to wipe the sleepiness away. 

Next to her, drinking contently from a glass of water was a small Barn owl. In front of her, as she realized too late, was James, opening the present she had gotten him. As the shop assistant had said, an owl had brought her the present she had bought for James, although she hadn’t expected him to be in the room when the owl arrived. The owl couldn’t find me at home and went looking for me. Lily was torn between being horrified by the fact that she hadn’t had the opportunity to give him his present properly or happy that he was alright. Instead, she only shrieked “James!” 

He looked at Lily and smiled, although he was still slightly pale he looked way healthier than the day Diagon Alley had been attacked. Without time to think, Lily threw herself at James, who could hardy wrap an arm around her. Then, resting on James’ chest and after a few beats of his heart, she heard a flutter behind her: the Golden Snitch. She separated from him, and looked at the little ball disappointed. James Potter’s chest rumbled with laughter, and his eyes filled with mischief.

“So this is what you where hiding that day in ‘Quidditch Quality Supplies’? I knew you weren’t ‘just looking’.” He smiled broadly and Lily blushed, although she smiled back at him when she realized that he wasn’t mocking her, and that he actually seemed touched by her present. 

She was about to answer when she remembered that he had just woken up from a bad injury, and her face turns to a worried one.

“Potter! You should be resting!” She strongly pushed him back down ignoring whining.

“Back to Prefect mode, Evans?”

She ignored him again. “I’m going to call a healer.” She was about to leave the room when he reached for her and grabbed her arm.

“Please, I’m fine. Just stay for a bit longer and then I’ll let you call a Mediwizard.” He gave her puppy dog eyes. With a final sigh, she came back to his side and muttered “Move aside” under her breath. She lay next to him, shoulders touching, holding hands under the blankets, not wanting to lie over him as she was afraid it might cause him more pain. 

“Do you know how things ended that day?”

Lily shook her head not looking at him. She hadn’t had any news from the outside for two days.

“Sirius will know. You can ask him the next time he comes around.” He nodded but didn’t answer. They stayed in silence, only hearing to the sound of their breathings and the occasional noise from the owl. Next time James spoke, Lily could hear the smirk in his voice. 

“So, this is quite the nice present you got me.” Lily groaned and kicked him from under the blankets, which only made him laugh harder. In the end he calmed down, and spoke with sincerity.

“Seriously. It’s really thoughtful. My two favourite things: you and quidditch.”

“So now I’m a thing?” No it was his time to blush and hers to laugh. He began to stutter trying to explain himself, but she waved her hand urging him to stop.

“Don’t worry; I think I understood what you meant.” She smiled at him mockingly. But then her gaze softened, and he closed his eyes while he closed the gap between them. But he didn’t feel her lips, but her hand. He opened his eyes confused, to see her smiling apologetically and somewhat mischievously. 

“You haven’t brushed your teeth in almost three days. Why don’t we wait for a few hours?” He rolled his eyes, whispering something she couldn’t understand under his breath, but nevertheless they both lay back silently. Before she fell asleep, she could hear James’ quiet mutter.

“Just when things were getting interesting. Seriously Lily…”


End file.
